


Mystery Lover

by yffismydrug



Category: SHINee
Genre: M/M, Mystery, OnTae, Onew - Freeform, SHINee - Freeform, Smut, taemin - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-28
Updated: 2017-12-28
Packaged: 2019-02-22 21:10:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13175265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yffismydrug/pseuds/yffismydrug
Summary: After going to college for acting and dance, Taemin is now on the search for a director who will put him into one of his productions. Taemin is focusing on writing a song to try and get a part in a musical he wants to be in. Right away, however, something strange starts to happen. Writing messages back and forth with a complete stranger, who becomes his mystery lover, Taemin manages to complete his song. But what role will this mystery lover play? Will Taemin get the part in the musical he wants? Will Taemin ever learn who his mystery lover is?





	Mystery Lover

**Author's Note:**

> This work was originally posted to my AFF account on July 9, 2017

Hitting the print button from one of the more useful websites he had found, Taemin turned to his small desk printer and waited for the paper to come out. As soon as it did, he placed it on his desk and highlighted the location and time. 

“I can do it this time,” Taemin told himself with a huge smile on his face as he ran his fingers through his blonde hair.

Taemin had gone to school to become an performer. His dream was to stand on stage and sing with all the famous actors and actresses, putting on famous plays for thousands of people. After graduating from college around a year and a half ago, he had auditioned for dozens of shows but never received a callback. He was always told he lacked what it took, whether it be emotion or fluidity in the way he moved. Although he had been at the top of his class, compared to the other actors and actresses at the auditions, it looked as if he had never gone to school. It was frustrating, but with each failed audition he was able to learn and grow from it. His lucky day had to come sooner or later.

With this new audition coming up in two months, he was determined to do better and actually get a callback. This time they were looking for young up and coming actors, hoping to discover new talent they could work with for years to come. Since they were looking for younger actors, Taemin felt more confident that perhaps he really could get a callback this time around. The only challenging part about this audition was that they were requiring them to perform an original song...something he had never had to do before for any other audition. He had always been able to perform a song from another play or movie, which he was a lot more comfortable with. This time around he would be stepping into a new challenge.

“Prove them wrong...I can do this…” Taemin told himself with a firm nod of his head.

When he had originally told his parents he was going to school to act, they had told him it was a waste of time, so now he was determined to prove them wrong. He wanted to show them that he could stand on stage and make a name for himself, slowly but surely.

Moving out of his parent’s house after he had graduated, he had only ended moving about fifteen minutes away since the area was cheaper and actually within his limited budget. Not to mention he did not think his mother could stand having him too far away and not being able to check up on him. Taemin knew he would live farther from them eventually, but for now this sufficed nicely.

Once the audition paper was magneted to the fridge, Taemin grabbed his journal he used for writing songs along with a pen, and headed out the door. It was a nice summer day, so he headed straight out after sliding on some shoes.

After walking for a little while, he came to a part of the neighborhood that he recognized very well. It was not too far from his parents house, and maybe a twenty minute walk away from where he now lived. There was a short stone wall that came up to his waist and ran for a couple of blocks. In particular there was one spot he would always sit and read or write because it was under a massive tree that provided the perfect amount of shade for him. There were so many memories he had here of just enjoying himself.

~~Flashback~~

Senior year as a high schooler really was the worse. Teachers were pushing all the students to study math, science, english, history...all of the subjects he did not have an interest in. Not to mention everyone was asking him what he wanted to do with his life. Whenever he told someone, they would tell him it was a waste of his time. 

“You need to go into the medical field, Taemin. It will be great for you and you could make a fantastic living and get paid well as you progress into higher positions,” his father told him a million times a day in a desperate attempt to have him change his mind. 

“What about a job at Choi Group? Or Kim Group? I hear they are looking for talented workers and they are lovely corporate companies!” his mother blabbered on and on so much that Taemin already felt like he knew the whole hierarchy of the two companies. 

There was no winning when it came to pleasing his parents, he had learned that. If it was not the medical field, or working in a large corporate office, he was never going to make them proud of him. 

But every time he mentioned his love for acting and singing...

“You’ll never make enough money playing pretend on a stage,” his father would tell him, a scowl on his face followed by a disappointed look.

“No one will take you seriously if you do that, dear. No one wants to marry an actor,” his mother always replied, making sure to emphasize that since she wanted grandchildren. It would have been opening up a new can or worms for Taemin to tell her he was gay, so he always let that go and would deal with the topic later.

One day after school, in an attempt to get away from his parents trying to persuade him to go into their chosen profession for him, he had taken his backpack with his study materials and gone to his favorite silent place. A small stone wall where a giant tree towered over it. As he walked along the wall, he ran his hands over the smooth stones and smiled happily.

Flinging his backpack onto the stone wall, he easily hoisted himself up onto it and then onto one of the thicker lower branches of the tree. He positioned himself on his back and then laid there in the silence of nature.

Ever since he had found out about this relaxing place, back when he was six, he would come and relax in order to get away from everyone and anything troubling him. When he was nine he had started climbing the tree, and the rest is history. This had become his spot, since no one else came around often.

~~End of Flashback~~

Placing his journal and pen on the stone wall, Taemin hopped up and sat on the wall, kicking his feet against it. He was humming lightly and looking up at the sky, enjoying the peace and quiet around him. Thankfully the town he lived in was quiet in general so it was never terribly loud and people rarely bothered one another. 

While he continued kicking his feet, he heard one of the stones rattle in the wall. After he kicked it a few more times, he got curious enough to hop off the wall and locate the moving stone. It took a few tries before he found the right one, but eventually grabbed a hold of it, and noticed just how loose it was.

“I don’t remember any stones being loose before…” Taemin said to himself as he worked on jiggling the stone more to see if it would pop out. 

Soon the stone popped out and a piece of paper came fluttering out as well, landing near his feet. Taemin bent down right away and picked up the piece of paper, unfolding it to see what it was.

Hello, who are you?

Taemin turned the paper over a few times, trying to see if there was something else written there. But there was nothing. Only that simple question. No name was left either. 

“Huh...that’s rather strange…” the blonde muttered to himself.

Even though he had no idea who had placed this paper there, or when it had been put there, he found himself reaching for his pen and writing a response.

I’m Taemin...who’s this?

With a shrug of his shoulders, since this seemed harmless enough, he folded the paper back up and placed it back into the hole in the wall before wedging the stone back into place. Then, as if he had not just done something strange, he grabbed his journal and sat leaning up against the wall to start thinking of a song idea.

“Why did this audition require an original song?” Taemin asked while scratching his head. 

When it came to composing the music for a song, he was comfortable with it, having the music programs on his laptop from college. But coming up with words was the nearly impossible part for him.

Leaning his head against the wall, he started humming all different tunes to try and find one he could work with. It was only after an hour or so that Taemin thought he finally had a good tune he could build upon. Even though he had no lyrics written, he wrote down a few notes so he could remember the tune and decided to call it a day. If he kept at it and wracked his brain, slowly he would drive himself insane and give up. 

The next day, Taemin did the same thing. He grabbed his journal and pen, and headed back to the stone wall to sit there and try to get ideas. But as soon as he got there, he found the first thing he did was not start working, but checking the loose stone to see if there would be any response.

“I don’t see why I’m checking…” Taemin chuckled as he pulled the stone free from its spot to see the paper where he had left it yesterday. “It’s not like there’s going to be a-”

Taemin’s mouth hung open slightly when he saw, the rest of his sentence disappearing into thin air.

Sorry...can’t say.

“Okay then...let’s see what you will tell me…” Taemin stated as he scribbled another response back. This was enough to peak his interest.

How long have you waited for a response?

With a slight chuckle, he placed the paper and stone back before getting back to work again.

For the next three days, Taemin continued coming back to the wall and writing responses, since this stranger was responding to him on a regular basis. He found out that this stranger had only been waiting a week for a response, he would not reveal where he lived, and that he liked the melody Taemin had been humming for the past few days. Meanwhile, Taemin had been more open with this stranger and told him random things, such as his audition in a few months which he was composing the song for. But he never said an exact date or when it was taking place. After all, he was having a conversation with a complete stranger though notes in a wall. He did not want this person stalking him or anything.

Taemin had to admit, when he had seen the response that this stranger liked the melody of the song, that he was a bit creeped out. How was it even possible for this person to hear him? 

The next time around, when he was going to the wall, Taemin was checking out all around him to see if anyone was following him at any point. Each time he turned around, however, there was no one there. It was always him...alone.

“No one follows me...but they hear me,” Taemin muttered to himself, feeling a slight chill run up his spine. 

Upon reaching the small wall, he even checked on the other side to see if maybe a person was laying there...but once again, there was no one. It really confused him how this strange person knew what he was humming.

“Let’s see what he wrote this time,” Taemin said as he removed the stone once again and unfolded the paper.

To make things easy, think of me as your mystery lover...I’m no stranger.

Taemin had to read that a few times, cocking his head to the side.

“My mystery lover?” Taemin asked while thinking about what he could possibly write back to this person who had now proclaimed himself as his mystery lover. “I don’t know if I should be worrying that I have a stalker now…” he then muttered while putting the note down so he could work while thinking of a response. “Or he could be a secret admirer who has no bad intentions…” Taemin chewed the inside of his cheek as he drummed his pen against his knee. “Or he’s out to kill me…”

After thinking about it for a few minutes, Taemin realized he really had no clue what this person could be like, since he would not give any details about himself. He figured it would be best not to over think what this person could be like, since it would only make him more curious and distracted.

“I’ll find out more in time,” Taemin said with a shrug of his shoulders as he looked up into the tree above him and watched the leaves sway in the breeze.

Over and over again, Taemin continued humming the same tune, occasionally changing it up, since lyrics still evaded his mind. 

“Hhhmmm hhhmmm hm hm hm hm hm hm hmmm hhmmm, mystery lover~!” he eventually found himself singing lightly to himself. “Huh...I actually liked the sound of that…”

Looking down at his open journal, he tapped his pen against the blank paper a few times while continuing to hum. He then started scribbling something down as if he were going to forget it in a second.

“Hayake beonjyeoganeun hwansang neomeo, Mystery Lover~,” Taemin sang as he read the words he had just written on the once blank page. “Yes! Yes, this is it!” he proclaimed enthusiastically. “This is my song!”

He next grabbed the paper him and his mystery lover had been writing on and wrote his response.

You’ve just given me the song title to my audition song! Mystery Lover!

Taemin was a little unsure why he was so excited to tell this stranger about his decision, but he wrote it down and shoved the paper back into its place before jamming the rock in once more.

That day, he found himself sitting by the wall until the sun had gone down so much that it was becoming hard for him to see what he was writing. He had completely forgotten about eating anything that day and left his sitting spot in an incredibly happy and energetic mood. Not only did he have a song title to work with, but he had also written a good chunk of the song written out.

For the next full week, Taemin worked endlessly on his song, wanting to make sure he had enough time to prefect it. Each time he had a good chunk of the song figured out he would make a copy and stick it into the stone wall along with the note, asking if this mystery lover of his could give him his opinion. Taemin had no idea if this person knew anything about music, but it was better than no opinion at all. 

Through the help of talking with this stranger, and working non-stop, Taemin found himself making a song he was actually very proud of. 

Knowing the melody he wanted to work with, he figured the best thing to do was create the background music on his software program and download it onto his phone. He was glad he had decided to download it so he could bring with him and listen to it all the time as he work on his song. It thankfully only took him one day to compose the music for his song, since he excelled in that area of music. Once he had tested that the music would play successfully to his phone, he knew for certain that he would be able to make great progress on his song.

Day after day he continued going back to the same spot, never letting anything stop him. Thankfully there was no rain during this part of the year so he only had to deal with the blistering hot weather. But that was nothing a few bottles of cold water or chilled fruit could not fix.

More notes were left between him and this mystery lover of his. Taemin found it strange to say he felt as if he was getting closer to this person he had never once met, but it was true. This person had been so helpful and kind that Taemin found himself actually wanting to meet up and talk. He would save that for after his auditions though. There could not be any big distractions until after.

As time went on, Taemin would pull the stone out and find edits to the music sheets he had stuck into the wall. Clearly this stranger did know a thing or two about music. Suggestions he was making sounded really good when the blonde applied them, which was making him very happy.

Soon, it was five days before his audition. Taemin was feeling completely nervous and anxious about everything. The other day he had stuck a copy of his completed song into the wall and left if there for final feedback. When he went to collect it all there was, however, was a note.

I’m keeping your song!

“I guess it doesn’t matter since it was only a copy…” the blonde told himself as he scratched his head, wondering why the stranger had taken it like that. The fact that the stranger wanted to keep it now was reassuring that it was ready to be performed, which gave him a boost of confidence.

The last few days leading up to his audition, Taemin stayed home and practiced different parts of his song to make sure they would be perfect. He also called some of his friends to try and keep his nerves down and his mind off the audition. Usually before an audition, he would not sleep for a couple of nights because of being overly anxious about how things would go. Somehow, however, these last few nights had not been terrible. He had tossed and turned each night, but had managed to get at least six hours of sleep instead of his normal two during times like these.

Before going to bed the night before the audition, he decided to go on the website and check to see if they announced who the judge would be. When he saw the name on the screen, he went pale.

“Cho Kyuhyun…” Taemin whispered to himself, sinking into his chair. “I’ve heard he’s one of the harshest judges. He’s stopped auditions before if someone isn’t meeting his expectation and is wasting his time. Damn it…”

Deciding it was best to stop himself before he worried even more, Taemin powered down his computer, set an alarm for tomorrow morning so he would be up extra early to get there on time, and took a calming bath. He kept telling himself everything was going to be alright and that he would simply do as best as he could. After all, how bad could Cho Kyuhyun really be? Surely everything he had heard was simply exaggerations of whatever really happened. Right?

~~ Audition Day ~~

As soon as the bus came to a stop, Taemin jumped off and started sprinting. An unfortunate mix of his phone dieing in the middle of the night, meaning his alarm got turned off, the bus being late, and people moving slow in general, he was now running very late. While he kept running, he glanced down at his watch and saw he had about five minutes until his audition time.

Right now he was racing towards his audition like some possessed mad man. After practicing his song repeatedly, he was as confident as he could ever be right now. Though, if he was even so much as a minute late, he heard the judge would not let you audition. Tardiness...was not acceptable. Ever.

Just as Taemin quietly pushed the door of the auditorium open to sneak in, he heard Kyuhyun’s voice over the microphone at the small desk he was sitting at in front of stage.

“If you weren’t going to come perfectly prepared I don’t see why you bothered showing up at all,” Kyuhyun commented while rolling his eyes.

“I did the best I could…” the nervous singer replied as he slunk back slightly behind the spotlight where he had been standing during his performance.

“Really…? That was you coming prepared? Did you hear your voice shaking? Now I don’t know whether you were just scared or if that’s how horrible you always sound!” Kyuhyun continued scolding. “Well I can tell you one thing...you’re not getting a callback! A cat in heat could sing better than you!”

Taemin gulped hard, wondering how many before him had gotten that same treatment and been sent away with hard, soul-crushing words.

“Lee Taemin!” Kyuhyun then called over his microphone.

“Here! I’m here!” Taemin called back as he quickly walked up to where Kyuhyun was sitting.

“Well I’d hope you’re here and didn’t put your name down to waste my time,” Kyuhyun snarked back just as Taemin passed him a copy of his song. “Get set up quickly. Chop chop! I don’t have all day to waste waiting for you!”

Nodding his head, Taemin pulled out his iPod and plugged it into the sound system they had. He grabbed another copy of his song and placed it on a music stand provided right next to the microphone under the hot stage light.

“Ready?” Kyuhyun asked in a bored voice.

Taemin could tell there must not have been any winners so far out of everyone who had auditioned.

“Yes...ready,” the blonde replied as confidently as he could.

Kyuhyun pressed a button on a remote to start the song and waited as he heard the introduction. A slightly pleased smirk crossed his face when he heard the beginning and he nodded his head once while already taking a few notes down.

When his time came, Taemin opened his mouth and let the lyrics he had worked so hard on flow out with as much passion as he could. His body moved naturally with the music as he stood by the mic. He would glance periodically over to see Kyuhyun watching him, making no moves towards the remote on the table to stop the music. 

Then, during the middle of the song, out of nowhere, another voice joined in to harmonize with him. Taemin quickly grabbed the mic off the stand and started turning and looking for the voice while he continued singing. He even caught a confused look on Kyuhyun’s face as he searched for the voice. There was only one other person who would know this song so well. His mystery lover.

The song continued with other auditioners sitting in their seats looking confused, but entertained as well.

Before Taemin knew it, his song came to an end and he was greeted by an applause from everyone sitting in their seats. There was no more sound from his mystery lover who had made a guest voice appearance and he honestly did not have time to worry about where he was right now. Instead, he placed his mic back on the stand and turned his attention towards Kyuhyun who was sitting there with his hands folded and his chin resting on them.

“Lee Taemin. Correct?” Kyuhyun asked.

“Correct,” the blonde confirmed although the other already clearly knew his name.

“You are aware that the audition guidelines said this was a solo audition. Correct?” Kyuhyun questioned.

“Y-yes...I am…”

“And you are aware that you and someone else just sang your song. Correct?” he asked again.

Taemin felt his heart beginning to sink in his chest.

“What is it called when two people sing a song together?” Kyuhyun asked in a bored voice.

“A duet…” Taemin replied quietly.

“A what? I can’t hear when you mumble!” Kyuhyun stated loudly.

“A duet,” the blonde said louder into the microphone this time.

“Correct! So you did not follow the rules for this audition,” Kyuhyun said with a shake of his head.

“I understand. Sorry for wasting your time,” Taemin replied sadly as he gathered his papers from the music stand and grabbed his bag that he had tossed down before beginning.

“Be that as it may…”

Taemin stopped what he was doing and turned to face Kyuhyun again.

“I’ve heard seven people before you today...and frankly they all sucked,” Kyuhyun said bluntly. “And I hardly doubt any of the remaining auditioners are going to peak my interest quite like you did.”

“I...I peaked your interest!?” Taemin asked with a smile on his face.

“Yes, that’s what I said. Are you now hard of hearing?” Kyuhyun asked while squinting his eyes and leaning in more towards the younger male.

“No sir!” he replied right away with a shake of his head.

“Your voice is good...and harmonizing like that really showcased it,” Kyuhyun said while stroking his chin. “I’ll do this!” he then boomed over the microphone. “I’ll give you a callback…”

“What!? Really!? Thank you so much!” Taemin exclaimed while bowing towards Kyuhyun with a giant smile on his face.

“Let me finish,” Kyuhyun sighed in an annoyed fashion. “The callback will be in two weeks,” he explained, holding up two fingers and waving them in the air slightly, and leaning back in his chair again. “When I see you again, I want you to bring back whomever you sang with, do the duet with him again, and I want it acted out as if it were actually a part of the play. Understood?”

“W-with him?” Taemin questioned, suddenly feeling not so good about the call back.

“Is that going to be a problem?” Kyuhyun asked while leaning forward, his chair squeaking in the otherwise quiet auditorium.

“No, no! Two weeks is fine! I’ll do it!” Taemin confirmed with a nod of his head.

“Great then! Two weeks, a duet with acting!” Kyuhyun announced as he marked it down. “Now, get off the stage! NEXT!”

Taemin quickly gathered his things and scurried off the stage as if it were on fire. Heading straight out of the auditorium, he practically ran to the bus stop and planted his face into his hands with a heavy sigh.

Shit...he cursed to himself just as the bus pulled up and he got on. 

As soon as he reached his bus stop near his place, he got off and ran to the stone wall to find the note in the wall. Before he had not minded the once a day answer and response system him and this person had going. Two months had been plenty of time to play that little game. But now? Two weeks!? He needed to convince this complete stranger to sing the song with him again as a duet and coordinate some sort of act into it as well? If his mystery lover would not even tell him where he lived, what was the chance that he would see this guy before the two weeks were up?

“This is a recipe for disaster,” Taemin grimaced as he pulled the stone out and started to write what was probably the longest message ever to his mystery lover.

I know it was you today at my auditions. I won’t ask how you found out where and when it was taking place exactly, but don’t try saying it wasn’t you. In two weeks I have a callback but you have to be there to sing a duet with me like we did today and we have to act it out. Are you in?

Taemin read what he had written over and bit his bottom lip before adding something else at the bottom.

Please, say you’ll do it! This is my first shot at getting on stage and it would mean a lot to me!

With that done, he placed the stone back into the wall with his note and headed home. Since he had not slept well these last few days, his body was feeling weaker and was actually craving sleep despite the newly added stress in his life.

Once Taemin was home, he had enough time to wash his face and change into pajamas before flopping down onto his bed and falling asleep instantly. It was not until the next morning when his phone was blaring his alarm loudly by his face that he woke up startled.

“What? It’s already morning?” Taemin groaned and he turned off his alarm and rolled around a little in his bed. “It’s morning!” he then realized as he jumped out of bed, phone in hand, and started running towards his front door. 

Just as he flung his door open, he realized he was still in his pajamas. Letting out an annoyed groan, he closed the door and quickly went to change into some actual clothes. He pulled on the first clean shirt his could find and a pair of jeans as well. This time when he went to sprint out of his house, he snatched his pen off the table where he had thrown it the previous day. If there was a reply to his message, he wanted to send his own reply back.

Running as fast as he could, he nearly slid on the grass when he came to the spot in the wall where the loose stone was. The blonde eagerly wiggled it out of place and dropped it onto the ground as he pulled out the paper, hoping there would be an answer already. He was coming pretty early compared to other days, so perhaps there would not be one yet. Maybe today would be the day he would meet his mystery lover?

When he unfolded the paper, however, he saw a response written down below his frantic request form yesterday.

Don’t worry, I’ll show up in two weeks. Same time, same place….I’m assuming. Just worry about perfecting the song even more. I’ll take care of the rest and make sure everything goes perfectly.

Taemin gulped when he read that. So this stranger was agreeing to work with him and perform in two weeks...but he was not going to practice with him or anything? Even though he should have been weary about this, he felt like he could trust whomever he was communicating with. After all, he had already helped with the song.

“I have to stop being so trusting…” Taemin muttered to himself as he wrote down the time and place again so his mystery lover would have that confirmation and not miss the audition.

After the paper and rock was back in place, Taemin leaned against the wall and looked up at the cloudless sky. 

“Thank you!” the blonde called out loudly, even though no one was around. “I’m counting on you!”

The blonde sat there for a while, humming the song he had composed. He was soon singing the words lightly to himself and made his way up to the wall to lay down on it. With one arm draped over his eyes to block the bright sun, he allowed for the other to fall off the side of the wall and dangle there. One of his legs was bent at the knee so his foot rested flat and the other leg laid straight.

“Areumdaun gieok sok miso jitdeon; Mystery Lover. Doraoji anneun neon yeojeonhi nae; Mystery Lover~...” Taemin trailed off after he finished singing his song and moved his arm from over his eyes. 

The sun caused him to squint as a small grimace fell onto his face. Sitting up on the wall, he hoisted himself up to his feet and started climbing the tree he had been in many times before. 

Resting on his usual branch, he looked around to find no one around. Taemin leaned back against the tree and let out a heavy sigh as his legs dangle around the branch he was straddling. The wind whipped his hair around and rustled his shirt against his body. 

“I just have to stay calm…” he whispered to himself as he took in a huge breath of fresh air. “If I start panicking now or worrying, I won’t sleep for two weeks and then all this hard work will be for nothing.”

After calming himself down for half an hour or so, Taemin finally thought it was time to get down from the tree and head back home. After all, he had sprinted out this morning without eating anything for breakfast. His stomach right now was not pleased with that spur of the moment decision.

“Yeah, yeah I’ll feed you now,” Taemin chuckled as he jumped down from the tree, onto the stone wall, and then down to the ground. 

As he walked back to his house, he shoved his hands into his jean pockets and started humming his song again with a large smile on his face.

~~ Two Weeks Later ~~

After making sure his alarm had been set properly the night before, Taemin found himself awake at 6:00am to get ready. He had showered to clear his mind and picked out some good clothes. Since he had no idea what sort of performance he and his mystery lover would be performing, he settled for a looser fitting white dress shirt, comfortable black jeans, and slid on some shoes, but also brought his dancing shoes to change into once he was there. He did not take 16 years of dance class not to show off his skills when he could. Not to mention if he was auditioning for something that would involve dance, why not show the judge just what he could do?

Taemin arrived at the auditorium about fifteen minutes before he was supposed to be and noticed there were only a handful of others sitting there as well. Looks like Kyuhyun really was a harsh judge to weed out so many people from the first audition two weeks ago.

Finding an open spot near the front by the stage, away from the others, Taemin opened his bag and took out his dance shoes. While he was changing his shoes, Kyuhyun approached him.

“Hello, Taemin,” Kyuhyun greeted just as Taemin finished putting on his shoes.

“Ah! Hello, Kyuhyun,” Taemin greeted back, standing up and giving a bow to the older.

“I saw you come in a while ago but I didn’t see anyone else come in with you,” Kyuhyun explained as he looked around a little to see if anyone was approaching Taemin.

“About that...he’ll be here,” the blonde said with a nod of his head. “Don’t worry.”

“Oh it’s not me that should be worried,” Kyuhyun said with a small laugh. “See that man over there?” he asked, pointing to a man who was looking through some papers at the small desk Kyuhyun would also be sitting at. “That’s-”

“Choi Siwon…” Taemin finished for him. 

The younger brought his hands up to his mouth and covered it since he was standing there gawking.

“So you’ve heard of him,” Kyuhyun stated with a nod of his head.

“Heard of him!? I’ve written papers on him in college,” Taemin explained excitedly as he looked between Kyuhyun and Siwon over and over again. “He’s put on some of the best productions I’ve ever seen! The actors he chooses for each performance...the way he changes the performances to showcase each actor's skills...he’s incredible!”

“He’s the one you have to worry about judging you today, because he will be the director for the production you’re auditioning for,” the older explained with a firm nod of his head.

“Oh gosh...I think I’m going to be sick…” Taemin stated as he felt his face turning even paler.

“Please don’t...I don’t want to have to be in charge of cleaning up your mess,” Kyuhyun said before backing away from the younger. “So for your sake...I hope that other person shows up for your audition.”

Gulping, Taemin nodded his head and watched as Kyuhyun went back to the desk and started talking with Siwon.

In the new few minutes, the first auditioner was called onto stage and performed his song. Unlike a few weeks ago, when the person finished neither Kyuhyun nor Siwon said anything. That made Taemin even more nervous since he would not know what they thought unless he got contacted after the audition.

“-min...Taemin...Lee Taemin!”

The blonde looked up to see Siwon and Kyuhyun both looking at him with bored expressions. 

“Pay attention. You’re on deck,” Siwon called to him before going back writing something down on the papers in front of him.

Looking around nervously, Taemin made his way up the stairs of the stage and back to where the microphone headpieces they were using this time around were. Keeping his switched off, he put it on and continued looking around to see if his mystery lover had arrived yet. 

The entire time the other auditioner was singing, Taemin was pacing back and forth as silently as he could. He was so preoccupied looking for his mystery lover that he did not realized the person before him had finished and was now putting his headset back on it’s docking station to charge more.

“Lee Taemin! Set up your music!” Siwon called from the desk

Hearing his voice, Taemin switched on his headset, plugged in his iPod again with his song selected, and stepped out onto the stage where more lights were turned on.

“Where’s your partener?” Kyuhyun asked, jotting something down on his paper.

“He’s here,” Taemin said, hoping he really was somewhere, ready to come out and had not gotten cold feet or ditched him on purpose.

“Alright then…” Kyuhyun said, not sounding convinced.

A few more seconds passed before Taemin heard his song start playing. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself a bit last second.

“Another night neowa ieojin; eoneu bam juini eoptdeon; neomudo tumyeonghan i unmyeongui siri nal; silkeot deultteuge hae~,” Taemin started singing just like last time...all alone.

He looked over to see Kyuhyun and Siwon writing things down, and his eyes started looking around to see when his mystery lover was going to show up.

“Kkumsok hemaedeut chumeul chugo; nareul sara itge mandeun neo; eoseo Taste my heart nae mam gipsugi; gadeukhi tami na yuhokhaetdeon geol~,” he continued feeling tears come to his eyes since he had clearly been lied to and left to embarrass himself.

Then all of the sudden, he heard another voice and looked over to see someone wearing a mask hiding the top half of his face.

Just like in the first performance he started harmonizing with him and adding in other “oohh” and “aahh” sounds to compliment the song.

“Hayake beonjyeoganeun hwansang neomeo; Mystery Lover; budeureoun soneul ppeodeo nal gamssajwo; Mystery Lover~,” the two sang together as they started drawing closer.

His mystery lover ran his hand lightly down the side of his face to which Taemin spun away and placed more distance between them.

“Midnight eoneusae dalbiche jamgin chae; naman hollo yeogie eoseo; bulleo jwobwa nal gidarin moksoriro; Call my name-”

“Call my name~!” the mystery name echoed while trying to get closer to Taemin again, moving across the stage flawlessly.

“-dasi naege sumeul bureo neoheo~,” Taemin finished as he saw the other coming closer to him.

When his mystery lover reached him, Taemin allowed him to wrap his arms around him and they continued on flawlessly, as if they had practiced this endlessly for the last two weeks.

“Neol wihan chumeul chugo~!” Taemin sung

“Bami omyeon~!” he called after

“Ne gyeote jami deulgo~!” the blonde sang next, actually resting his head back against the other’s shoulder in a comfortable manner.

“Duryeowo ma~!” the mystery lover sang back, lightly running his fingers under Taemin’s chin.

Taemin then spun around to face the other and looked at this eyes through his mask while he continued singing.

“Eoseo taste my heart nae mame mukkin~,” Taemin pressed his hands against the other’s chest and propelled himself backwards away from him. “Dwieongkin oeroumeul kkeunheonae jwo Girl~!”

“Hayake beonjyeoganeun hwansang neomeo; Mystery Lover; budeureoun soneul ppeodeo nal gamssajwo; Mystery Lover; areumdaun gieok sok miso jitdeon; Mystery Lover; doraoji anneun neon yeojeonhi nae; Mystery Lover~,” they sang flawlessly together once more harmonizing perfectly with one another.

Taemin continued dancing, showing all of his feelings through not only his voice but his body as well. The other seemed to catch on quickly with all of his moves and followed step.

“Areumdawotdeon kkumini adeukhi; meoreojyeo ganeun i Reality yeah~,” Taemin sang as he stylishly fell to the floor and laid on his side

“Reality~,” the stranger echoed as he moved closer to Taemin, crouching down next to him. 

“Gipeun eodum sok neomaneul gidarin; i bami; eorumanjin sigani~!” Taemin felt the stranger help him sit up and leaned him against himself, rocking them together slightly.

Taemin got up without any difficulty and distanced himself from his mystery lover again before continuing, “Walcheucheoreom nan neowa chumeul chugil; ajikdo ajikdo neon doraoji anha neon~!”

His mystery lover got up from the floor as well, ready to come after him again during the song.

“Neol wihan chumeul chugo maeil; ne gyeote jami deulgo~!” Taemin sung while watching the stranger draw closer to him.

“Duryeowo ma~!” he sang when he reached Taemin and drew him in closer again.

“Eoseo taste my heart nae mame mukkin; dwieongkin oeroumeul kkeunheonae jwo Girl~!” Just as he sang that the stranger did something bold and kissed him on the neck, sending a shiver up his spine but not letting it distract him from finishing his performance.

Taemin moved away again before singing, “Hayake beonjyeoganeun hwansang neomeo; Mystery Lover; budeureoun soneul ppeodeo nal gamssajwo; Mystery Lover~!”

The mystery lover, however, caught him by the wrist and started spinning him back in so they were closer again.

The two of them spun together a few more times as the song finished.

“Areumdaun gieok sok miso jitdeon; Mystery Lover; doraoji anneun neon yeojeonhi nae-”

Taemin now had one of his mystery lover’s arms around his waist supporting him from falling to the floor. They looked at each other as they finished the song.

“Mystery Lover~!”

As Taemin sang those last two words, he reached up and ripped the mask off his mystery lover’s face. He only had a second to look, however, because the man leaned down and planted a firm kiss on his lips. During the kiss, the mask fell from Taemin’s hands, stunned at the stranger’s bold actions done in front of not only the two judges, but complete strangers!

When the two of them split, Taemin instantly righted himself and looked up at the person standing next to him. Before he had time to really register who was standing there, he heard someone clear their throat. Right away he turned around to face Kyuhyun and Siwon, who were watching them.

“You’ll find out in a few days if you have the part or not,” Siwon stated in a bored tone, still writing something down. “NEXT!”

Quickly, Taemin shuffled off the stage, dragging his mystery lover off with him. The stranger had only a split second to grab his discarded mask off the stage floor before being pulled away. Once they were behind stage, Taemin took off his headset and placed it back on the docking station.

When he turned around to face the stranger he saw him placing his headset in the docking station as well. 

“You-!” Taemin growled. “You!”

“Me?” the male said, pointing to himself.

“You scared the crap out of my after not being here on time and thinking you’d left me to fail my audition!” Taemin stated, giving the other a harsh shove. “Then you just kissed me out there! A kiss!”

“Please don’t have another episode like before…” the stranger groaned.

“If I want to have an episode I’ll-!” Taemin stopped in his tracks and looked at the other, cocking his head to the side. 

Before the stranger knew what was happening he was being dragged to one of the changing rooms that were behind stage. Taemin shoved him in and closed the door behind them. The lights were flicked on, nearly blinding them. 

“What did you mean by having another episode?” Taemin questioned, now questioning if this person really was a stalker and if it was such a good idea to close them together in a small room.

“Really, Taemin?” the stranger asked. “Seriously?”

Taemin backed up a bit and cocked his head at the other with a confused expression on his face.

“If you keep having episodes like this, I don’t want to play with you anymore,” the stranger then stated with a smirk on his face.

“It’s you!” Taemin screamed with a smile on his face.

~~ Flashback ~~

A young, seven year old Taemin was standing there with his arms crossed over his chest and a pout on his face.

“Taemin stop pouting,” Onew told him.

The two of them had grown up with each other their entire life and while Onew had gotten used to Taemin’s episodes, they got tiring if he had them a couple of times a day.

“No!” Taemin screamed before kicking the ground and stomping his foot.

The younger had spent the little money his mother had given him on candy earlier in the day and now that it was hotter outside he wanted ice cream. He had asked Onew to buy him ice cream but the older had told him no. That had caused Taemin to start his pouting and screaming.

“I want the ice cream!” Taemin screamed as he began crying.

“Taemin, you have to calm down,” Onew told him, patting him on the head to try and sooth thim.

“B-b-but...ice cream!” Taemin blubbered as snot started running out of his nose.

With a heavy sigh, Onew knew nothing would get him to be quiet except giving into his wants and buying the ice cream for him. Onew left Taemin outside and went into the small convenience store and grabbed an ice cream for him and one for Taemin as well. In a few minutes he came out and handed the still crying younger his frozen treat.

Taemin instantly stopped crying, sniffled his nose, and took his ice cream from Onew. The two of them opened their ice cream and then started walking to where they always hung out when they did not have anything to do.

Already done with half of his ice cream, Taemin sat down and leaned against the stone wall under the large tree for added shade. Onew in the meantime hopped up on the wall and sat there finishing his ice cream. Taemin was the first one to finish his treat and sat there munching on the wooden stick.

“You can’t keep having episodes like these or else I won’t want to play with you anymore,” Onew told him just as he finished off his ice cream too.

“You’re older! Be nice!” Taemin stated with a pout on his lips.

“I’m only a year older than you, Taemin…” Onew pointed out. “You should try to stop having these episodes or you’re going to get annoying to people.”

“You’re mean for a kid,” Taemin said with the pout still on his lips.

“I’m an honest kid like my parents raised me to be,” Onew explained with a shrug of his shoulders. “So promise me you’ll start behaving!”

Crossing his arms over his chest and letting out a huff, he nodded his head.

“Fine...I promise I’ll be to behave,” Taemin agreed before slamming his back against the stone wall so he did not have to look at Onew anymore right now.

When he did that, however, one of the rocks in the wall shifted and jabbed him in the back.

“Ouch!” the younger shouted as he moved away from the wall.

Onew hopped down to see what had happened and found Taemin moving one of the rocks. With a little more prodding the rock fell off and landed by their feet.

“Now you’re breaking walls...good job, Taemin,” Onew said as a joke.

The younger turned his head towards Onew and had as mean of a scowl as a seven year old could before picking up the rock and jamming it back into the wall.

“There I fixed it! I’ll remember it’s there from now on so I don’t do this again,” Taemin said with a nod of his head before Onew pulled him in for a hug.

~~ End of Flashback ~~

“Onew!” Taemin called happily before launching himself towards the older and hugging him around the neck. “I can’t believe it’s you!” he exclaimed.

“Yepp! It’s me!” Onew replied with a small chuckle as he hugged Taemin back. “And if you don’t stop hugging me so tightly I won’t be around much longer because you’ll snap my neck!”

Taemin instantly let go of Onew and backed away from him a little. He was still just in shock that he was standing right in front of him.

“How about instead of gawking at me like I’m some corpse that’s risen from the dead, we go somewhere and talk or eat or something,” Onew offered.

“We can go back to my place,” Taemin offered. “I have a small place because I moved out of my parent’s house after college,” he explained with a large, proud smile on his face.

“Then let’s go and stop wasting time here,” the older stated.

The two of them left together and ended up getting in Onew’s car and driving to his place. When they arrived at Taemin’s place they went in right away and the blonde quickly made them tea. 

When Taemin came back into the livingroom where he had left Onew, he found the older looking around. 

“Here’s the tea,” Taemin announced as he placed the cups down and sat on one side of the couch.

Onew quickly sat down next to Taemin and grabbed one of the cups off the table.

“So...how have you been?” Onew asked before taking a sip of his tea.

“Well I guess you’re kind of already aware of what I’m up to considering these last two months,” Taemin explained with a shrug of his shoulders.

“Ahhh...yeah I guess that’s true,” Onew acknowledged with a nod of his head.

“I have a question, Onew,” Taemin said next as he shifted on the couch to face the older more. “The note you left in the wall...you said you weren’t waiting for a response long, so what made you stick it in the wall to begin with?”

“Well after I graduated college I did a bit of traveling with some of my friends and when I came back I heard that you had stayed around here but moved out of your parents house,” Onew explained. “I know it sounds like I’m being creepy but...I don’t mean for it to come across like that.”

“I take it you found out where I was living from your parents?” Taemin asked and watched as the older nodded his head. “Then why didn’t you just come and say hi? Why do it in a secretive way like this?”

“Wasn’t it more fun this way?” Onew asked while raising one of his eyebrows. “We played a little mystery game and then you got a surprise kiss out of it. Bet you weren’t expecting that at all.”

“Why would I expect someone who I believe is a complete stranger to kiss me like that?” Taemin asked. “And why did you call yourself my mystery lover?”

Sitting there Onew shrugged his shoulders.

“I needed something to call myself so I figured...ehh...let’s make things more interesting,” the older explained.

Taemin simply rolled his eyes at Onew and let out a small laugh before taking a sip of his tea.

“Besides, it was almost payback for you ignoring me while we were in school together,” Onew explained.

“Ignored you?” the blonde questioned. “Onew...we talked all the time when we were in school together and then you moved right before our first year of high school.”

“I mean after that,” Onew clarified.

“After that…?” Taemin asked, more confused now than ever.

“Taemin...we went to the same college...were in some of the same classes!” the older stated.

Taemin nearly choked on the tea he was drinking before turning his full attention to Onew.

“What!? Of course we weren’t!” Taemin immediately stated. “I would have known if you were at the same school as me, let alone in my classes!”

“I did! I can still show you my class schedules and they would match up with yours if you still have them,” the older explained. 

“Then how come I never recognized you?” the other brought up.

“I dyed my hair constantly and usually hid in the back of the class whereas you always sat in the front. Not to mention the class sizes were huge anyways,” Onew explained while rubbing his thumbs on the rim of his glass. “I thought...when you didn’t say anything to me after the first few days when we shared our first class...that you were mad about me moving,” he admitted.

“Mad…? Onew, why would I be mad that you had to move?” Taemin asked. “You said it was due to family issues so there was nothing you could have done about it,” he stated with a shake of his head.

“Then I guess it didn’t help that I really tried to avoid you once I thought you hated me…” Onew admitted. 

Sighing and shaking his head Taemin reached over and smacked him hard on the shoulder. 

“Ouch!” Onew shouted as he grabbed his shoulder and looked at the younger. “What was that for?”

“For you being stupid!” Taemin exclaimed before smacking him again. “Don’t come to conclusions on your own and do things like that! Do you know how much I missed you when you left me!?”

“I...never thought of that,” Onew admitted, rubbing the back of his head now and setting his tea down on the table. “But I’m here now…”

“You’re here now,” Taemin agreed, a small smile coming to his lips. “But now that I know you’re back and that you’re this...mystery lover...person, just feel free to come by whenever you want.”

Onew kept his head down, his hair falling in front of his eyes as he sat there motionless. After a minute or so, Taemin reached his hand out and brushed the older’s light brown hair from his eyes and looked at him. 

“Onew…”

“I’m just sorry that things got complicated for absolutely no reason,” Onew stated. “I guess I just got lucky that you checked the wall again around the time I stuck a note in there, or we wouldn’t be reaquainted like this right now.”

Taemin nodded his head in agreement. There was no way Onew would have known that he regularly went to the wall where they hung out when they were young. Not to mention he had not even remembered the loose rock since he had been in one of his moods that day. Everything appeared to have played out by coincidence in the end.

“Another thing about the notes,” Taemin quickly said before the topic could change. “How did you know when to come and respond? Or that you liked the song I was humming when you were nowhere around? Heck...how did you even know it was me and not some random person who had found the loose rock and note?”

“Ummm…about that...there might be a one way receiver in the bushes by the tree…” Onew admitted, bracing himself for another hit.

“Did you say...a one way receiver?” Taemin asked calmly.

“Y-yeah…”

“So you were just being creepy and listening in on me without my knowledge?” Taemin asked next, putting his tea down too and crossing his arms over his chest.

“Please don’t hit me again...you’ve gotten stronger than when you were little…” Onew stated.

“Tomorrow I’m coming with you and you will take that receiver away, and you will never put it back there. Understood?” Taemin stated.

“Wow now I feel like you’re the older one out of the two of us,” Onew replied.

After that bit of awkward conversation was finished, the two of them continued talking and hanging out at Taemin’s house. Dinner was ordered in and the two of them ended up putting in a movie and talking more, just passing time. Before either of them knew it, they had fallen asleep on the couch, Taemin leaning up against Onew’s shoulder as they sat under a thick blanket to keep them warm. They only realized their position when Taemin’s morning alarm on his phone started going off on the table by the couch.

“Mmmm...shut up!” Taemin shouted to his phone before leaning forward and turning it off.

When he went to lay his head back down he was met with a small groan of tiredness. Opening his eyes and looking up, he saw Onew sitting there with his eyes still closed.

“Oh boy…” Taemin sighed. “Onew...Onew wake up…”

“Five more minutes, mom…” the older grumbled back.

“Onew...I’m not your mother. You fell asleep here last night and we slept on my couch,” the blonde explained with a small sigh as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

Opening his eyes slowly, Onew looked around to see that he was in fact still at Taemin’s house on his couch.

“Wow...we must have been really tired to fall asleep like this,” Onew stated with a small yawn.

“We must have been,” Taemin agreed with a small nod. “But this means that we can go out and retrieve your damn one way receiver.”

Onew let out a small groan as Taemin pulled him to his feet, passed him his keys, and shoved him out of the door. It did not take long for them to reach the spot and for Onew to stop the car and pull the receiver out from the bush by the large tree. He showed it to Taemin who gladly took it in his hands to inspect it. Then, without any warning, the younger chucked it at the stone wall and watched as it exploded into multiple broken pieces.

“There...that’s to deter you from spying on others again,” Taemin happily stated as he clapped his hands together. “Now what about some breakfast!?”

Onew simply looked from Taemin to the scattered pieces of plastic and metal. He agreed to grab some breakfast with Taemin as he bent down and picked up the pieces of broken receiver. 

For the next few days, the two of them spent all of their time together catching up and rekindling the friendship they had missed out on. Taemin had even convinced Onew to sleep over at his house to save them even more time. Although Onew was unsure about it at first, he figured he had nothing better to do, since he did not have a job yet.

The first night, Taemin had refused to let Onew sleep on the couch, since it was not comfortable enough. He had practically dragged the older to his bedroom and pushed him onto his bed when it was time for them to sleep. Onew had been taken aback and was laying there with his eyes wide open, thinking something different might be about to happen. But all Taemin did was crawl into bed in his pajamas and pull a cover up over them. It was only in the morning that Onew had to detangle Taemin’s limbs from his because the younger had clung to him so tightly in the middle of the night.

There were times when the two of them had ended up playfully fighting and Onew had wound up pinning Taemin down quite easily. The younger’s had always ended up with his arms pulled behind his back, wrists trapped in one of Onew’s hands, and the his head held down with Onew’s other.

A lot more joking and cuddling happened over the days, along with many top of the head and forehead kisses from Onew. There were times when they would be watching a show or movie and Onew would place his hand on Taemin’s thigh, acting like it was normal and casual. None of these things ever bothered Taemin, however, because they were always having fun together.

Three days later, the day Onew was going to leave, and Taemin was taking a morning shower, since Onew and him had fallen asleep quite early that night. 

*RING DING DONG, RING DING DONG, RING DIGGY DING DIGGY DING DING DING* 

“Taemin!” Onew called loudly as he looked over after pulling his shirt on to see the younger’s phone ringing.

The water in the shower quickly turned off and in a few seconds Taemin came running out while still soaking wet and a towel tied around his waist. His blonde hair was sticking out at random angles from being freshly washed, dripping water along his shoulders, back, and chest.

“Always the worse time,” Taemin muttered as he looked down at the screen to see who was calling.

Onew watched as Taemin picked up his phone and got a worried expression on his face. Taemin quickly raced out of the room while answering the phone and stood there in the hallway with his hand cupping around his mouth.

“Yes…” Taemin said with a nod of his head. “Yes...alright...I understand. Thank you very much for the call.”

The entire time Taemin was in the hallway, Onew was combing his fingers through his hair and practicing what he wanted to say in his head. After spending a couple of days with the blonde, he had reaffirmed feelings he had for him before he had moved away. He had planned on telling the younger that morning, so the phone call was a bit annoying, since he did not know what kind of mood it would leave Taemin in.

When Taemin came back into the room, clutching his phone to his chest, he smiled at Onew. 

“I have something important and shocking to tell you, Onew,” the blonde told him.

“Really? I do too!” Onew stated, thinking that the way Taemin was asking that maybe he would be thinking the same thing as him.

Looking at each other, they both smiled big and then opened their mouths to say something.

“I got the part in the play!” Taemin exclaimed as he jumped up and down a few times in excitement.

“I love you!” Onew shouted at the exact same time.

The two of them looked at each other with their mouths agape. Taemin looked startled, his mouth opening and closing slightly as he took in what Onew had said...what he thought Onew had said. Onew on the other hand was standing there horrified. Taemin had not been thinking the same thing as him.

“What did you just-”

“I’m so happy for you, Taemin!” Onew exclaimed so they would not talk about what he had just blurted out. “You put so much work into the song and did a phenomenal job with the performance! You deserve this!”

“Th-thanks, Onew. But...what did you just say?” the blonde questioned as water dripped from his hair down the front of his face.

“You’ll have to let me know when you have a performance so I can get tickets!” Onew continued as if he had not heard him.

“Onew…”

“Do you think I could come to some of your practices?” he asked next.

“Onew…” Taemin said again with a small sigh. 

“We did go to school for the same thing so of course I’m interested,” the older continued on.

“ONEW!” the younger then screamed.

Onew got quiet very quickly and declined his head slightly. He knew after what he had said that there was going to be no avoiding the topic.

“Just tell me again what you said,” Taemin said in a more steady and calm voice.

“Umm...I kind of admitted that I uh...love...you…” Onew said in a less confident voice than before.

“You...love me?” Taemin asked in an uncertain voice.

“I know it sounds so stupid and you probably don’t believe me but...I liked you before I even moved when I was younger. All of this time we’ve spent together now has helped confirm that I still feel that way,” Onew rambled on, dragging his fingers through his hair and tugging at it slightly.

Just when Onew was about to tilt his head up, Taemin grabbed his face and planted a kiss on his lips. The two of them stumbled a little, Onew from the shock of the kiss, and Taemin because he was pressing himself against the other a bit.

When they broke apart, Onew gave Taemin a confused look.

“I don’t know if this is actual love but...I’ve started to have feelings for you ever since we started hanging out these past few days,” the blonde explained.

“So you don’t know if you love me...but you just kissed me...passionately,” Onew pointed out.

“Uhh...right…” Taemin stuttered, not having thought his response out.

Looking down at Taemin, Onew quickly averted his eyes from the younger and cleared his throat. Taemin tilted his head to the side before looking down and seeing the towel around his waist. His erection was right where the flap was and pushing the towel open. Right away he covered himself and turned a bright shade of red.

“You don’t know if you actually love me...but you got an erection just from a kiss?” the older questioned, sweeping some of his light brown hair from his eyes.

“I...I…” the younger stuttered more as he bit his bottom lip and declined his head. “I…”

With a small chuckle, Onew moved closer to Taemin and gently cupped his face, raising it so he could look at the younger. He saw a few tears sliding down his cheeks and his eyes all watery. Using his thumbs, he wiped away from tears and then pecked Taemin’s cheeks lightly to kiss away the tears.

“Still like when you were younger...crying over everything,” the older chuckled. 

“I don’t cry over everything!” Taemin stated, giving Onew a futile shove to get him away. “I’m just mad at myself…”

“And why are you mad at yourself? Because you kissed me?”

“No…”

“Because you got an erection so easily?”

“No!”

“Then why, Taemin? Help me understand,” Onew begged.

“Because I told myself that if we ever met again...and if the topic ever came up...that I wouldn’t lie to you! And I lied!” Taemin shouted in frustration.

Onew leaned back a bit and cocked his head to the side with one of his eyebrows raised.

“Okay...now I’m completely lost, Taemin. What did you lie about?”

Moving his hands down to the younger’s shoulders, Onew looked down at him and waited patiently for a response.

“I said I wasn’t sure if I love you,” Taemin clarified. “You said you liked me when we were younger...and I felt the exact same. I kept trying to deny and deny it and it wasn’t until you moved away that I realized I actually had genuine feelings for you. I told myself that if we ever met again that I would tell you my true feelings and...I didn’t...I lied and tried to hide it. But it appears I don’t have good control over what the lower half of my body thinks.”

Their eyes met, and before Taemin knew what was happening, Onew was kissing him and guiding him to the bed where he fell backwards.

“I figured the song you wrote was about someone you used to love,” Onew told him after they broke their kiss.

“Y-you did?” Taemin asked with a shocked expression on his face.

“Mhmm...the lyrics and the way you sang the song...there was so much passion and hurt in your voice,” the older explained. “And now I’m going to guess it was about me.”

Taemin's face turned red so fast that it caused Onew to burst out laughing as he hovered over him.

“I thought you said you wouldn’t lie,” Onew reminded him.

“I said I wouldn’t lie about loving you...not that I would admit the song is about you,” Taemin stated.

When he realized what he had said, however, he cupped his hands over his mouth and looked at the older with wide eyes.

“You’re still as cute as when you were younger,” Onew chuckled with a smile on his face.

The older leaned down and moved Taemin’s hands away from his mouth before planting a kiss on his soft pink lips. Taemin returned his kiss, allowing for Onew to hold his hands so he could not move around. As they were kissing, the younger felt a dip in the bed as Onew climbed on properly and situated himself between his legs.

Opening his eyes, Taemin saw a mix of blonde and light brown hair in front of his eyes. There was a slight pull on his bottom lip as Onew turned more playful with him, so he returned the favor by bucking his hips up slightly. 

“Taemin…?”

“Hmm? Don't stop,” the younger begged.

“We just met again and we're jumping right into this? Isn't it...strange?” Onew questioned. 

“Let me up quickly,” Taemin told him.

When Taemin sat up, Onew still between his legs, he reached over to where their wallets were sitting and grabbed his. Inside he pulled out a tattered photo and turned it around for the other to see. Right away Onew took the photo in his hands and stared at it with wide eyes. 

“This is from…-”

“When we fell into the pond two towns down,” Taemin finished for him. “You took a picture for us and had two copies printed.”

“But you spilled soda on yours and it got ruined…”

“So we ripped the one picture in half and I took your half…”

“And I took yours.”

Onew then snatched up his wallet and pulled out the other half of the picture. Lining up the two torn edges they made the two halves one again. They both smiled as they looked at the picture, finding it hard to believe they had both kept it.

“Are those hearts you drew by my head?” Taemin asked.

“I told you I liked you…”Onew mumbled with a slight pout on his lips. “Besides! Aren't those tear stains on mine?”

“I missed you a lot and cried sometimes…” the blonde admitted with a small pout on his lips.

“I'm sorry I made you cry,” the older apologized. 

“I already told you not to apologize about the situation. It was a family matter and you had no say in what was happening,” Taemin scolded him lightly. “But I know what you could do to make it up to me…”

Onew was about to ask what he wanted when he suddenly noticed Taemin removing the towel from around his waist and laying back down. 

“I want you,” the blonde stated as he held his arms up and open for the other. 

“I can't believe you're the same boy who the day we fell into the pond wouldn't even take off his wet shirt to let it dry,” Onew chuckled as he lowered himself down onto Taemin and kissed him again while weaving some of his fingers through his soft hair. 

“Shut up and kiss me more,” the younger panted before connecting their lips. 

As they continued kissing, Onew could feel the other's erection pressing against him. He brought one of his hands down and lazily started to stroke it, bringing it to life even more. Small moans came from Taemin’s mouth as they kept kissing. 

Taemin reached his hands up to Onew’s chest and was annoyed to find he still had his shirt on. Desperately, he clawed at the bothersome fabric until the other understood. Breaking their kiss, he quickly stripped off his shirt and tossed it to the floor. 

“Pants…pants off to,” the blonde gasped, now leaning up and reaching for the belt. 

“So eager,” Onew chuckled as he quickly disposed of his pants as well. 

“Of course I'm eager! Do you know how happy I am to have you here to do this instead of my fingers!?” the younger shouted.

Onew reached his hand back down and lightly placed it on Taemin’s hip. He watched as that simple action caused a shiver of pleasure to run through his body.

“You realize you basically just admitted to masturbating while thinking if me,” Onew pointed out with a smirk on his face. 

Taemin felt his face turning red when Onew pointed that out to him, but quickly turned to the nightstand, grabbed a mostly used bottle of lube and shoved it into Onew’s free hand. 

“I don't care,” Taemin stated in a breathy, needy voice before cupping Onew’s face in his hands and pulling the older down for another kiss.

Even though he was shocked at being pulled back down like that, it did not stop him from kissing the younger right away. While they kissed, he opened the lube and squirted and into his fingers before bringing them down to Taemin’s twitching hole. The way the younger wiggled under him in anticipation was almost enough to make him forego the preparation and thrust right in. He was completely hard now, after all. How could he not be with Taemin laying naked under him?

When the first finger finally slipped past the tight ring of muscle, Taemin stated clawing at his back. His hips bucked slightly while a muffled moan passed his lips. 

They then broke their kiss as Onew leaned back. Taemin's arms fell back to the bed and clutched at the covers while Onew pushed in a second finger and started stroking him again. That turned the younger into even more of a moaning mess.

“You're acting like you've never had someone else touch you down here,” he started as some if his hair feel in front of his eyes do to his concentration. 

“Th-that's because I haven't…” Taemin quickly admitted. “I've just done it myself…”

“Huh… can't say I'm too shocked,” Onew stated as he pushed in a third finger and watched the younger wince slightly. “You were never very outgoing when it came to physical interactions with other people.”

“I might have also made a bet with myself,” Taemin added through a small moan. “I'd save myself for you until I'm 25… and if you didn't show up, or didn't want me, then I'd move on.”

Right then Onew struck his prostate, making him moan the loudest yet and buck his quivering hips. 

“At least you're still as planned out as you were before,” Onew chuckled as he hit that spot again and stroked Taemin faster. “Do you want to proceed soon? I’m not sure how much longer either of us will be able to last.”

“Now! I want you now!” the blonde screamed in ecstasy as Onew once again struck his prostate. 

Slowly, Onew pulled his fingers out and popped open the lube again so he could slick up his erection. He watched Taemin's stretched hole as it clenched, looking for something to fill it again. 

Taemin then felt as Onew grabbed his hips and dragged him forward more. He instinctively wrapped his legs around the older’s hips and stayed clutching at the covers. 

“This might hurt a bit…I'm not small,” Onew stated.

Picking his head up, Taemin looked down at his erection and saw how big it really was. What he saw he was not expecting. Of course he had watched porn before but none of the actors had ever looked this big! Not only was Onew long, but he was thick as well. 

“I...I can handle it…I'm c-confident…” the younger stuttered out. 

“You don't sound to confident,” one pointed out as he lightly pressed the leaking head of his erection against Taemin's awaiting entrance. 

“Please...I want to feel you. Connect us,” Taemin stated as he looked up at Onew with lustful eyes. 

Onew lost it at that point and thrust all the way into the younger. The tightness swallowed him up and kept him sucked it. He closed his eyes as they rolled up into his head, and let out a pleasure moan. Taemin on the other hand had a look of pain and horror on his face as he felt himself splitting in two. Tears rimmed his eyes as his legs shook around Onew’s waist. 

When the older finally opened his eyes he saw Taemin laying there with one arm over his eyes and the other in his mouth with his teeth biting into it. He could feel Taemin's legs shaking and knew something was not right. 

Quickly he reached forward and tugged Taemin's arm away from his eyes to see him crying. 

“T-Taemin…?” Reaching forward he rubbed his head gently and then worked in removing his other arm from his mouth. “Taemin...I…”

“It hurts…” the younger managed to croak out. “It hurts so much…”

Launching forward Onew hugged Taemin and gently soothed him. He could feel as Taemin wrapped his arms around him as well and scratched his back. 

“I'm so sorry...I told you it would hurt, knew you were a virgin, but thrust in so hard and at once,” Onew stated with regret dripping from his voice. “I'm sorry.”

The two of them laid there completely still for a few minutes. Onew was starting to pull out and was worried he would hurt Taemin more, but the younger was not complaining. 

“I know you can make me feel good…” Taemin finally stated, breaking the silence. “You had me moaning earlier with your fingers…so I trust you.”

Picking up his head Onew looked down at him. 

“Are you sure?”

“Move… please…”

“I’ll be more careful this time around,” Onew stated before he started rutting his hips slightly.

This time around, Onew paid closer attention to how Taemin was reacting to his movements. He started slow, simply rutting against the other, not really pulling out. When soft moans started leaving his mouth, Onew started moving a little more. It was only when Taemin started moving his hips a bit that Onew picked up the pace again.

“Onew~!” the younger cried out in pleasure as he adjusted to the other’s size.

Taemin’s nails scratched into his back even harder as they kept moving. Even though Onew let out small hisses of pain as he felt Taemin’s nails breaking his skin, he did not stop moving because he knew the other was feeling good. 

“Taemin...you feel amazing!” Onew moaned as they thrust together more.

“Please...more...I need to cum…” Taemin panted, opening his eyes and meeting Onew’s. “Make me feel good!”

A small growl escaped Onew’s throat before he started thrusting harder into the younger, trying to bring him the pleasure he was seeking. The bed beneath them creaked even more as covers and pillows fell to the floor and shifted around. But most of all, the high pitched whimpers of pleasure was what Onew loved hearing the most. He could tell Taemin was trying to hold back his sounds but that was only turning him on more.

Onew was so focused on Taemin’s sounds that he almost did not realize when the younger was cumming right under him. He only felt the blonde getting tighter around him and snapped out of his trance as he continued moving inside of him.

“Yes! Yes! Yes! Hyung!” Taemin screamed in pleasure before going limp on the bed and laying there panting. 

“Did that feel good?” Onew asked, reaching his hand down and cupping Taemin’s sweaty face. He could not help but smile over the fact that Taemin had just called him hyung for the first time in years.

“Mmmm...really good…” the blonde stated with a tired smile on his face. “I feel like I could sleep now…”

“Ya...no sleeping yet! You might have gotten your release, but in case you can’t feel me inside of you...I’m still hard and haven’t cum yet,” Onew pointed out before giving a small thrust again to remind him.

“I don’t think I can move right now,” Taemin admitted embarrassingly. 

“That’s alright,” Onew chuckled before pulling out of the younger and flipping him over onto his stomach. 

A small groan passed Taemin’s lips as he now laid flat on the bed. He shifted on the bed a little when he felt the cum on his stomach smearing between his skin and sheets. 

“I feel so stretched…” Taemin muttered with a small laugh as he reached one hand back and pulled at one of his buttcheeks to show Onew his gaping hole clenching and unclenching, waiting to be filled again.

“It’s all stretched from me,” Onew stated before grabbing Taemin’s hips and hoisting them up so the younger was now kneeling. “And it will be filled again soon.”

Taemin attempted to use his arms to support his weight, but they were shaking too much and felt too tired from their first round of sex. He tried once more to get up, but his right arm slid on the covers and jutted out from under him. While one arm laid extended straight out and clutched at the covers, he placed his other hand on one of Onew’s hands on his left hip.

In a few more seconds, Onew was pushing back into Taemin and setting a fast pace right away. Taemin rested his cheek on the mattress and closed his eyes in pleasure as his mouth fell open. His blonde hair was spread out against the covers, slightly sweaty. Staccato moans were leaving his mouth with each thrust from Onew. Taemin worked on moving his hips slightly to meet with the other’s thrusts in an attempt to get him to thrust deeper.

“So good, Taemin,” Onew moaned as he kept his tight hold on Taemin’s hips so he could control the pace and how hard the thrusts were for the most part. 

“Hyung! Hyung!” the younger shouted as he felt another orgasm building up. 

“Why don’t you try calling me something else?” Onew groaned when he heard what Taemin was shouting under him.

“L-like w-what?” Taemin managed to get out.

“Oppa,” Onew told him with a smirk on his face.

“O-Oppa…?” the younger moaned as Onew stopped moving momentarily. “But...I’m not a girl…”

Onew let out a small chuckle before leaning over and peppering kisses along Taemin’s spine. He could feel how the younger shivered and hummed pleasantly under him.

“It already turns me on when you call me hyung,” Onew admitted. “I want to hear you call me oppa and see how much that turns me on too.”

The two stayed there in silence for a few more seconds before Onew started thrusting slightly into him again. After a few more thrusts, Onew finally heard what he was hoping for.

“O-Oppa…” The breathless moan left Taemin’s mouth in a small whisper, but enough for Onew to hear.

Snapping his hips forward, Onew then started thrusting harder again.

“Oppa,” Taemin called out louder.

Another hard snap of his hips, making the pace rougher.

“Oppa!” the younger shouted this time.

The thrusts were now becoming faster, giving Taemin almost no time to process any thoughts.

“Oppa~!” he cried out this time in pleasure. “Oppa! Oppa, please!”

Onew was being driven to the breaking point by Taemin right now. The blonde calling him oppa was turning him on more than he ever imagined it would. His voice laced with ecstasy and calling to him so desperately sounded amazing.

“Taemin! More!” Onew moaned loudly as he watched the blonde under him.

“Oppa! Oppa harder! Ruin my ass, oppa!” Taemin called out freely since noone was there to hear him.

“Damn...so good!” Onew moaned before slamming all the way inside the younger, holding him in place, and cumming inside of him.

Taemin cried out at the strange, yet pleasant, feeling of being filled, and found himself cumming at the same time. His entire body shook with pleasure as he pushed his head against the mattress and let out a low, long moan. Now, the only thing keeping him kneeling like that was Onew holding him up.

With Taemin’s body as deadweight in his hands, Onew slowly lowered them down to the bed together while remaining inside of him. As soon as they hit the bed, Onew started kissing along Taemin’s neck and cheek, nipping at his ear a few times in the process as well.

“Are you alright?” Onew asked before kissing the younger’s neck again. “Nothing hurts too badly I hope…”

“Of course my ass hurts from being used like this,” Taemin said with a tired chuckle. “But besides that...I feel amazing…”

“We finally became one,” Onew stated next while resting his head against Taemin’s neck.

The younger could feel the smile that went across Onew’s lips. He hummed lightly and decided to voice a thought he had since Onew started spending his days and nights with him so they could become acquainted. 

“Onew…?”

“Hmmm?” a tired hum replied.

“Why don’t you move in here with me?” the younger questioned nervously.

Picking himself up and pulling himself out from the younger, Onew laid down next to him and looked at him with curiosity.

“Why do you ask this now?”

“Well...I was actually planning on asking you before you left so you would have time to think about it,” Taemin admitted. “But now...after we just had sex...and confirmed our feelings...wouldn’t it make more sense to ask you now?”

“And were you expecting a certain answer from me?” Onew asked next just as some of his hair fell in front of his eyes.

“Oh! Umm...I had sort of hoped that...you’d...agree…” Taemin explained while reaching a nervous shaking hand out towards Onew and swiping his hair from his eyes so he could see them clearly.

“Hmmm…” the older hummed while tapping a finger against his chin and closing his eyes. When he opened them again he saw Taemin had scooted closer to him and was staring at him.”Ha, ha, ha, ha! You’re adorable sometimes!”

“So is that a yes?” Taemin questioned eagerly. “Because it gets lonely here sometimes when I’m all alone.”

Onew gave the younger a giant smile and nodded his head a few times in response.

“My parents have been looking for me to move out ever since I returned anyways,” Onew stated with an even larger smile plastered to his face. “This will be the perfect opportunity for me to get out of their hair, and into yours.”

“I think we’ve both just learned it’s not my hair where I want you,” Taemin said with a small chuckle.

“Oooohhh! Look how perverted my little Taemin has gotten!” Onew jokingly scolded. “I never would have imagined you’d be saying these type of things right now!”

Taemin could feel his face turning a bright shade of red when he realized what he had just said and instantly turned over so he was facing away from Onew.

“I-I’m going to go shower now!” Taemin exclaimed before quickly jumping out of bed.

“Taemin! Wait!” Onew yelled. But he was too late.

As soon as Taemin had stood up from the bed, he had crumpled to the floor. His back and butt were killing him to an extent he had never experienced when he had been working out or dancing for hours on end. His legs were complete jell-o and he did not think he could stand up again if someone paid him. 

“You dummy! You have to be careful!” Onew scolded him as he got out of bed and crouched next to Taemin.

“Everything hurts~!” Taemin complained with a small sigh of defeat. “I can’t get up!” he complained again, hitting his hands against the floor.

“Are you going to have another episode?” Onew questioned, raising one of his eyebrows.

Right away Taemin shook his head and looked up at the older. Onew could not stop himself from laughing a bit at Taemin in that instance. 

“Alright then. Let’s get you to the bathroom and into the tub,” he stated before scooping his arms up under Taemin and hoisting him up. 

“YA! Put me down! I can do it myself!” Taemin shouted while hitting his hands against Onew’s chest. 

“Says the one who was just complaining he can’t stand,” Onew reminded him.

At that, Taemin calmed down and crossed his arms over his chest as Onew carried him safely. With a small chuckle Onew tilted his head down and kissed Taemin’s forehead. The younger crinkled his forehead and laughed lightly before wrapping his arms around Onew’s neck.

“My mystery lover,” Taemin whispered into Onew’s ear playfully.

“I’m not such a mystery anymore,” Onew replied before closing the bathroom door behind them.


End file.
